Canon EF 35mm f/1.4 L USM

Hey Migs,
This is Jack Bentley, a portrait/wedding photog from Alabama --www.infinity-photographers.com. I've been admiring your work on these threads for some time.
I bought the cheap lensalign and it worked very well. Before, I couldn't seem to
get anything really sharp. I adjusted my 35 L to +15, my 85 L II to +12, and my 135 L
to +5, and it's made a huge difference. Before buying the lensalign, I sent my 7D
and 85 L to Canon for adjusting focus. They said no adjustment was necessary,
but they adjusted it to +2. NO improvement , so I bought the lensalign and made
the adjustments quickly and accurately.
I can certainly sympathize with anyone who buys a prime, uses wide open
for the bokeh, and finds the subject lacking in critical sharpness. But, I think
that you must use the micro af.
Again, I really enjoy your postings.

Migs,
No MA on my camera. Thats another reason why i mighnt send the lens to canon, maybe it will work better when I upgrade bodies.

Sunking,
Just my opinion, but I think that a body that enables mf adjustment is mandatory
to achieve critical focus with the fast primes. The razor sharp focus of the lenses
and the high powered resolution of the cameras requires the microfocus adjustment.

infinity-photographers wrote in post #9812145
Sunking,
Just my opinion, but I think that a body that enables mf adjustment is mandatory
to achieve critical focus with the fast primes. The razor sharp focus of the lenses
and the high powered resolution of the cameras requires the microfocus adjustment.

But will micro focus adjustment work? I dont think its a matter of achieving focus, it does it very well. The problem is that it focuses on what it should, but the result is soft.
I used Manual focus using live view and 10x zoom, still soft.

Sunking,
What camera are you using?

bolt1977 wrote in post #9809257
Hi anybody from the UK purchased the 35mm recently?

Yup, got mine from T4 Cameras 2 weeks ago. Seems to be a shortage at the moment, T4 had had this one on special order for someone else for a while, but the original orderer had managed to get one from somewhere else.

infinity-photographers wrote in post #9814621
Sunking,
What camera are you using?

The mighty 40D.

thinking of selling my sigma for this lens...

NaKiD EyE wrote in post #9817040
thinking of selling my sigma for this lens...

Do it so when you go FF it won't vignette

richierich1212 wrote in post #9817156
Do it so when you go FF it won't vignette

that's one of my main reasons actually... that and better IQ... and not to mention that little red ring.

I found this guy at the St Patrick's Day parade in Dogtown, St Louis

5d2-35L-f2- ISO 250- 1/800 & 1/1600

Hey guys... in a few days, I am expecting this glass on the mail! I can't wait... photography is restricted here in Baghdad, but I'm still excited to try this one. If my siggy 30 1.4 wows me all the time, I am sure I'll be happy with this one.

(Just sharing my excitement, you know - it is boring here )

Just got my 35L today... did quite a bit of test shots. When I shot wide open the percentage of getting the focus right where I wanted was about 40% ... When I stopped it down to F2 the hit percentage got better to about 90% ...

When the focus spot on the lens is very sharp wide open...its just too bad that its not very consistent at all...

Gonna send it to Canon for calibration soon ... if I've spent this much for a lens I wanted to be working perfectly wide open otherwise I could've get the 35mm F2 for about 1/5th of the price....

bajaiman wrote in post #9820867
Just got my 35L today... did quite a bit of test shots. When I shot wide open the percentage of getting the focus right where I wanted was about 40% ... When I stopped it down to F2 the hit percentage got better to about 90% ...

When the focus spot on the lens is very sharp wide open...its just too bad that its not very consistent at all...

Gonna send it to Canon for calibration soon ... if I've spent this much for a lens I wanted to be working perfectly wide open otherwise I could've get the 35mm F2 for about 1/5th of the price....

If you got the F2, you'd be stopping down to 2.8, then.

It is probably a mix of your camera AND the lens. Got MA on your cam? Try that.